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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
Pacific Islands And The U.S. Military: The Legal Borderlands Of The Environmental Movement, Sonia Lei
Pacific Islands And The U.S. Military: The Legal Borderlands Of The Environmental Movement, Sonia Lei
Seattle University Law Review
Climate change remains an urgent, ongoing global issue that requires critical examination of institutional polluters. This includes the world’s largest institutional consumer of petroleum: the United States military. The Department of Defense (DoD) is a massive institution with little oversight, a carbon footprint spanning the globe, a budget greater than the next ten largest nations combined, and overly generous exemptions to environmental regulations and carbon reduction targets. This Comment examines how this lack of accountability and oversight plays out in the context of three Pacific islands that have hosted U.S. military bases for decades. By considering the environmental impact of …
Free, Prior Informed Consent And Extractive Industry: Indigenous Action Is The Past, Present, And Future Of Global Environmental Justice, Paige Bellamy
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
Free, Prior Informed Consent ("FPIC") from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been central to global Indigenous action against extractive industries’ harmful practices. Yet, it is often not fully recognized as a sovereign right, which hinders Indigenous peoples’ ability to use it to its full potential. Historically, FPIC has been deemed a consultation right, not a right to “veto” industry action on Indigenous land. Countries that have interpreted FPIC as a mere consultation right have allowed further exploitation of Indigenous peoples, usually leading to environmental and humanitarian disasters. However, when courts have respected the right to …
Soaps And Shampoos: Proposals To Reform Regulation In The United States Personal Care Market To Decrease Deforestation From Palm Oil Imports, Kelsey Weston
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
Palm oil is the world's most highly sought-after vegetable oil due to its multifaceted uses and cheap cost of production. However, producing this versatile oil comes at a high cost to one of the largest biodiversity on the planet. Over the last two centuries, Indonesia and Malaysia have become the main producers and exporters of palm oil but they are also home to the largest number of mammal species in the world that have seen a staggering decline in populations. Furthermore, palm oil production has caused excessive release of greenhouse gases, increased disruption of forestland, and economic poverty for smallholders …
Municipalities Could Provide Valuable Second-Life Uses Of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Batteries While Legislators And Manufacturers Refine Safe Recycling And Disposal Practices, Heather D. Stewart
Municipalities Could Provide Valuable Second-Life Uses Of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Batteries While Legislators And Manufacturers Refine Safe Recycling And Disposal Practices, Heather D. Stewart
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
As consumers are embracing emerging electric vehicles (EVs) as an important step to take in combating climate change, the reality is that the EV solution has some serious short-term issues to address, especially when evaluating the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that power most EVs. This comment first discusses the potential problems associated with the lack of recycling and disposal technology as well as regulations that are available for EV LIBs. Even though consumers and regulators alike are supportive that fossil fuel-burning internal combustion engines need to be replaced with cleaner transportation options such as EVs, policies, and proclamations are still subject …
Addressing The Disproportionate Adverse Health Effects Among Bipoc Communities As A Result Of Environmental Racism, Lindsay M. Farbent
Addressing The Disproportionate Adverse Health Effects Among Bipoc Communities As A Result Of Environmental Racism, Lindsay M. Farbent
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
This article examines factors that contribute to the negative health impacts on Black Americans, other minorities, and low-income communities that are living in areas with high levels of air pollution, toxic waste, and environmental hazards. First, this article assesses the role of historical residential redlining on the segregation of BIPOC neighborhoods. Furthermore, the article addresses gaps in both federal and state environmental laws that allow facilities to keep obtaining permits and polluting in BIPOC and primarily low-income neighborhoods. Moreover, the article explains the higher rates of trauma, stress, and stress-related illnesses among BIPOC communities exposed to high levels of environmental …
Is Bitcoin The New Gold? The Two May Be More Similar Than You Think, Including Their Value, Uses, And Deleterious Effects On The Environment, Justin Allen
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
In the 1850s, the Gold Rush started in the United States, and in 2010, an analogous phenomenon, the Cryptoboom, began. Similar to the Gold Rush, Bitcoin’s initial boom was marred by the deleterious effects that mining for valuable coins had on the environment, but there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the negative effect cryptocurrencies have on the environment. Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and the blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies, have been widely embraced by many people, corporations, and even entire governments for a multitude of reasons. Some have embraced the fruits of blockchain to use as a decentralized …
Miami Is Setting The Expectation On How Coastal Communities In Florida Should Respond To Protect Homeowners From The Sinking State, Dayana B. Blanco
Miami Is Setting The Expectation On How Coastal Communities In Florida Should Respond To Protect Homeowners From The Sinking State, Dayana B. Blanco
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
This note begins by explaining what environmental factors are causing the sea level rise to increase at just a rapid pace and how coastal communities are ultimately affected. Because Florida is a slice of paradise within the states, it causes the population to increase vastly. Thus, millions of homeowners could face tragic consequences, such as total inundation of residential homes, flooding within the community, and a drastic decrease in home value. In response to this natural disaster, in 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis passed Senate Bill 1954 into law, which requires the Department of Environmental Protection to complete a statewide flood …
Congress Invests In A New Generation: The Future Of Commercial Fishing Is Supported By The Implementation Of The Young Fishermen’S Development Act, Shayla Alltop
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
This note speaks to the importance and potential impact of the Young Fishermen’s Development Act. This ongoing, historical legislation, ultimately signed into law on January 5, 2021, will establish funds over several fiscal years to support the future of commercial fishing. The Alaska and New England regions are discussed briefly to show the significance of the commercial fishing industry to those areas. An overview of the Act is provided, and the context for its need is explained as it relates to the industry’s entrants. Further, the phenomenon known as “graying of the fleet” is examined, as well as some of …
Florida's Harmful Algal Blooms: Tiny Organisms Needing Massive Legislation, Jillian Barnard
Florida's Harmful Algal Blooms: Tiny Organisms Needing Massive Legislation, Jillian Barnard
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
No abstract provided.
The Rights Of Nature Movement In The United States: Community Organizing, Local Legislation, Court Challenges, Possible Lessons And Pathways, Marsha Moutrie
The Rights Of Nature Movement In The United States: Community Organizing, Local Legislation, Court Challenges, Possible Lessons And Pathways, Marsha Moutrie
Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)
No abstract provided.
Human Survival, Risk, And Law: Considering Risk Filters To Replace Cost-Benefit Analysis, John William Draper
Human Survival, Risk, And Law: Considering Risk Filters To Replace Cost-Benefit Analysis, John William Draper
Librarian Scholarship at Penn Law
Selfish utilitarianism, neo-classical economics, the directive of short-term income maximization, and the decision tool of cost-benefit analysis fail to protect our species from the significant risks of too much consumption, pollution, or population. For a longer-term survival, humanity needs to employ more than cost-justified precaution.
This article argues that, at the global level, and by extension at all levels of government, we need to replace neo-classical economics with filters for safety and feasibility to regulate against significant risk. For significant risks, especially those that are irreversible, we need decision tools that will protect humanity at all scales. This article describes …
Waters Of The United States: Theory, Practice And Integrity At The Supreme Court, Jamison E. Colburn
Waters Of The United States: Theory, Practice And Integrity At The Supreme Court, Jamison E. Colburn
ExpressO
In the Supreme Court's two wetlands cases this Term, a question of statutory interpretation divided the justices sharply, in part because so much rides on the particular statutory provision at issue. The provision, a cryptic definition within the Clean Water Act (CWA), has now provided three separate occasions at the Court where the justices have confronted (1) the Chevron doctrine and the Court’s own ambivalence toward it, and (2) the CWA's enormous project of restoring the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. In this essay, I argue that the way the Court went about resolving its differences …